Journey Into Imagination
Journey Into Imagination was an attraction contained within the pavilion of the same name at the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World. It opened on March 5, 1983. The ride featured Figment, a small purple dragon, as a character. The ride also featured the song "One Little Spark," composed by the Sherman Brothers. Attraction Description The original attraction opened on March 5, 1983. It began with the Omnimover vehicles “floating” in the clouds, seeing the silhouette of a strange blimp mixed with a vacuum cleaner and hearing the humming and singing of its pilot. In the next scene, the riders come right next to this vessel. The pilot, an old man with a red beard dressed in a blue suit and top hat, introduces himself as the Dreamfinder (Chuck McCann) and says that he uses his vehicle (called the Dream Mobile or Dream Catcher by some fans) to collect dreams and ideas to create all sorts of new things. Soon he creates a figment of his imagination: "Two tiny wings, eyes big and yellow, horns of a steer, but a loveable fellow! From head to tail, he's royal purple pigment, and there, voila! You've got a Figment!" He creates a purple dragon named Figment (Billy Barty). Both of them come up with ideas to fill the "idea bag." When the idea bag is full, Dreamfinder declares that the ideas need to be emptied in the "Dreamport" which, as he says, is "never far away when you use your imagination." The Omnimovers leave the side of the Dream Mobile and enter the Dreamport’s storage room, which includes a massive contraption for sorting ideas. Also in the room are numerous objects including boxed applause, a plasma ball, and a birdcage of musical notes. After leaving the storage room, the ride continues through several rooms representing Art, Literature, the Performing Arts and Science. The Art room was mostly white colored, and had a large painting Dreamfinder was making using a large fiber optic paint brush, a carousel with giant carousel animals, and a pot of rainbows held by Figment. The Literature room was mostly focused on suspenseful tales and had Dreamfinder playing a massive organ with words coming out of it, words that turned into their meanings, a massive book featuring the raven from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem cawing menacingly, and books of horrible monsters Figment tried to keep closed. The Performing Arts had Figment trying on costumes backstage while Dreamfinder conducted a laser light show in the manner of an orchestra conductor. The last of the rooms, Science, featured a large machine that Dreamfinder was operating that took a closer look at the workings of nature such as the growth of plants, the formation of crystals from minerals, and looking into space. At the end, Dreamfinder tells Figment and the audience that imagination is the key to unlocking the hidden wonders of the world. The ride then enters the final show scene. As the rider's pictures are taken, they see Figment surrounded by several movie screens of him being a scientist, a mountain climber, a pirate, a superhero, a tap dancer, a ship captain, a cowboy, and an athlete. Dreamfinder, who is behind a movie camera, gives the riders one last inspiring message and tells them to use their newly found sparks of imagination in the ImageWorks, and the on-ride photo is shown on a screen next to the camera. The original Journey into Imagination attraction was the creation of Tony Baxter and Steve Kirk. The ride closed on October 10, 1998 in order to begin a major renovation of the attraction. Sources & External Links *Wikipedia Category:Former attractions Category:Former Walt Disney World attractions Category:Former Epcot attractions Category:Former Future World attractions Category:Former Imagination! attractions